Main:Elisabetta Preziosa
Saronno, Lombardy, Italy |Row 4 title = Years on National Team |Row 4 info = 2006-present |Row 5 title = Club |Row 5 info = GAL Liss |Row 6 title = Current status |Row 6 info = Retired}} Elisabetta Preziosa (born September 21, 1993 in Saronno) is an Italian gymnast and is the 2011 European balance beam bronze medalist. She won also four medals at the Mediterranean Games in 2009. Junior Career 2006 Preziosa participated in the Italian National Championships, where she won the bronze medal on beam, behind only Lorena Coza (15.075 points) and World Champion Vanessa Ferrari. It was her first medal won at the National Championships. 2007 Along with Georgia Bonanni, Erika Erbacci, Paola Galante, Andrea Francesca, and Serena Licchetta, Preziosa was part of the national junior team that participated in the international women's artistic gymnastics meet between Italy and Germany on April 5. With a total of 224.200 points, the team of Italian gymnasts beat the Germans who get only 204.850 points. In the all-around, with 55.550 points, she finished third behind Galante and Licchetta. At the European Youth Olympic Festival, with 109.000 points, the Italian team came in fifth in the team competition. Preziosa was one of the highlights of the Italian team. She scored a 14.650 on balance beam, which advanced her to the event finals. She finished eleventh in the individual all-around and won the silver medal on the beam with 14.875 points behind Ukraine Valentyna Holenkova who won two more golds. In November, she took part in the Memorial Blume of Vilanova i la Geltru, near Barcelona. In excellent physical condition, she competed on beam and floor exercise, her forte. She finished sixth on the floor exercise with 13.640 points and won the silver on the beam with a full 15.000. 2008 Together with Paola Galante, Serena Licchetta, Andrea La Spada, Valentina and Eleonora Rando Scapin, Preziosa joined the junior team that competed in the City of Jesolo Trophy. They competed against the U.S., the Spanish and Romanian. With 172.100, Italy won the silver medal behind only the United States (181.050 points). At the junior individual all-around won by the American Jordyn Wieber (60.900), Preziosa finished in sixth place with 57.000 points. From April 3 to 6, Preziosa competed at the Junior European Championships in Clermont-Ferrand. On the uneven bars, she scored a 13.625, which was the lowest score of the team, so it was thrown out. She fell on beam twice and scored a 13.700, 13.625 on floor exercise and 13.775 on vault. Preziosa did not medal at the European Championships At the Italian Nationals, the GAL Liss came in second in the team competition behind Brixia Brescia (where World Champion Vanessa Ferrari trains). Individually, with 15.325 , Preziosa won the gold medal on the beam and finished fourth on floor exercise (13.950). Senior Career 2009 Preziosa's first senior competition was the seconed City of Jesolo Trophy. The Italian competed against Brazil, China, Romania and Great Britain. The Italian team won the team competition at the with 161.950 points, ahead of Brazil (159.000 points) and Great Britain (156.350 points). Individually, Preziosa finished the all-around competition in tenth place with 51.600 points. At the Italian Nationals won by Vanessa Ferrari, Preziosa won the national title on the beam with a 14.425. On June 23, 2009, she was called to take part in the XVI Mediterranean Games in Pescara. Italy won the silver medal in team competition, with one-tenth less than France, who won the gold. Preziosa won four medals, with a 14.175 on gold floor exercise, a 14.450 points and the bronze on the beam, and finally, won the silver medal in the all-around competition. Preziosa competed at the World Championships in London, where she finished in fifth place in the beam final with a 14.200. The year ends with the Grand Prix - Freddy Cup with 14.800 points is the best to compete in the beam, confirming the success of the Mediterranean Games. 2011 Preziosa participated in the European Championships in Berlin where she qualified for the beam final, but fell on uneven bars and did not qualify to the all-around. On April 10, she won the bronze medal in the beam final, behind Russian Anna Dementyeva and teammate Carlotta Ferlito. In October 2011, she competed at the World Championships in Tokyo, together with the national team reached the ninth place in the team competition. However, the Italian team did not qualify directly to the London Olympics in 2012. On December 10, 2011, she participated in the Grand Prix "Rana Gioiaverde Cup" in Catania. 2012 The January 11, 2012, she participated in the Test Event in London last round of qualifying for the 2012 Olympics. With a tenth of a penalty, she scored a 13.466 on floor exercise and a 13.900 on vault. She finished on the beam, her specialty, with a 14.100, however, failed to qualify in for the event finals. She also did not qualify to the individual all-around, since she did not compete on uneven bars. The team came first in the competition ahead of Canada, France, and Brazil. On 16 June, after completing the period of convalescence following an eye operation, she competed at the Italian National Championships in Catania. Competing in all four events, with 51.600 points, she came eighth in the individual all-around. In addition, she qualified for the floor exercise final (13.200). On 17 June, she won the bronze medal with a 13.300 on floor. In July, Preziosa was named to the Italian team for the 2012 Olympic Games. She didn't qualify to the all-around or any event finals, but she helped Italy qualify to the team final, where they placed seventh overall. 2013 In March, she was announced as a member of the Italian team for the City of Jesolo Trophy.Jesolo In Jesolo, she won silver with the Italian team, bronze on balance beam, and placed tenth in the all-around. At the Italian Nationals in late May, Preziosa won the beam title, silver on floor exercise, and placed fifth in the all-around. She later competed at the Mediterranean Games in June, winning team gold and floor exercise bronze. 2014-2015 In February, she competed at the first Serie A in Firenze, winning the team bronze medal. At the second Serie A in Torino, she placed fifth with her team. At the third Serie A in Desio, she won bronze with her team. Rumors of her retirement surfaced in June, but Preziosa took to Facebook to explain that she's not training at the moment and is going through physical therapy for her knee, and retired in January 2015.retirement Medal Count Floor Music 2011-2012 - "Prelude" by Brian McKnight 2012 - [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaUTBomZzCg "End Credits"/ "Piano Duet" from The Corpse Bride] References